The founding dean of the Texas Tech College of Media & Communication, formerly the College of Mass Communications, came to Texas Tech in 1978 as an assistant professor of telecommunications.

Hudson admits he seriously contemplated retirement almost decade ago.

“Then there was an opportunity for us to become a separate college in 2004,” said Hudson, who will retire in July. “In 2003, when I began to make plans to retire, I think the real motivation was, ‘It would be nice, because we’ve had such a 30-year struggle to become a separate college, it would be nice to be involved with that.’ I decided to stay and see the rewards there, what that was holding for us.”

And Hudson has seen the college achieve much more since then.

The newly renamed college completed its move into the former business administration building in August. It also boasts a Ph.D. program that “became a reality” in 2005, Hudson said.

During the last few years, Hudson often would laugh about retirement with Associate Dean of Faculty Kevin Stoker over lunch.

So much, in fact, that Stoker said he was “stunned” to realize Hudson was truly retiring. Before, it was just a vague idea in the future, he said.

“There’s always a joke,” Stoker said. “Even when I came here, everyone says, ‘Dean Hudson’s going to retire in a few years anyway. It’s always a joke. ‘Yeah, Hudson is going to retire in a few years.’ Yet, he never retired.”

‘Leader,’ ‘fundraiser,’ ‘gunslinger’

Stoker, who is on his third year at the university, said he came to Tech because of Hudson.

He knew Hudson was a guy he could learn from, he said. Hudson taught Stoker how to manage people and manage a college.

The associate dean refers to Hudson as a “gunslinger.” He has a way of getting things done and getting people to believe in his ideas, Stoker added.

“He’s willing to pull the trigger and take risks and be innovative, which is unusual for a lot of deans, at least in my experience,” Stoker said. “I find he’ll make a decision. He’s decisive in that regard, but also he’s just a cool head. It’s easy to work with a guy like this because he thinks through things. He doesn’t overreact. He tends to make decisions based on some careful thought and discussion. Also, he’s got a great sense of humor.”

Hudson worked his way from assistant professor to chair of the Department of Mass Communications, a position he held from 1987 to 1992. He was the school’s coordinator of graduate studies and director of the Institute of Communications Research from 1993 to 1997. Hudson again served as director from 1998 to 2004 when he was appointed dean of the College of Mass Communications in September.

The dean’s professional background is in advertising and broadcasting, and he has taught in all disciplines in the college throughout the year with the exception of photography, Hudson said.

Former Tech Provost Bill Marcy said at the time that he became provost in 2002, mass communications had been striving for more than 10 years to gain college status.

It was Hudson who provided leadership to raise money and do all the administrative details necessary to create a college, Marcy said.

“Since that time, the college has really flourished, and they have moved into new quarters,” he said. “A tremendous amount of credit goes to Jerry for everything that happened to that college. ...

“I think the thing that I’m sort of gratified by is that all the things that we proposed to the president and the chancellor and the board of regents at that time, has not only come true, but they’ve exceeded the expectations substantially.”

The task took a lot of fundraising. Since 2001, endowments for scholarship have increased by 500 percent, Hudson said.

Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement for the Tech System Kelly Overley, who is responsible for all fundraising initiatives of the system, calls Hudson a great fundraiser.

Alumni love to talk to Hudson, who as dean, can tell them what’s going on in the college and about new initiatives, faculty and research.

“He is so charming and funny and trustworthy,” Overley said. “People really like him, and he’s a great fundraiser. He is always willing to travel to see alumni to ask for support for college. That’s a great quality to have in a dean.”

Moving on

Hudson didn’t make a big announcement of his retirement, he said. During the last year, as the college moved into its new building, he told colleagues he would retire after it was complete.

He informed the provost in May he would resign after Labor Day.

Hudson said he is sure his wife has numerous projects planned for him to do after he retires, and the two plan to visit their grandchildren. He’ll also take time to play golf, travel, write and do some consulting work.

“I feel good about it, you know? I haven’t tried to make it a secret that I was going to retire,” Hudson said. “I don’t know why people think that I’ll wait and then just spring it on everybody like, ‘I’m retiring.’ I thought about that, and I thought somebody would say, ‘Who cares?’ But it’s been good. I’ve enjoyed it.”

Stoker said the process of replacing Hudson has begun, and there will be a search committee of university and community members named soon.

“The one thing you need to know is there’s nobody more respected around the country in academic leadership than Dean Hudson, in our field in other words,” Stoker said. “I can’t tell you how many people say, ‘Well, I know Dean Hudson. Man, he is terrific,’ and these are deans from other colleges and prominent colleges.”

 Experience: Hudson worked in commercial broadcasting for 12 years including radio and television sales, radio personality, television sports personality and weather person. During the past 15 years, he has served as a research consultant for banks, hospitals, media companies, political candidates, shopping malls and retail stores.

 Favorite Texas Tech moment: “When we began to change some of the manual typewriters and electronic typewriters to computers, and we got into the computer age and the digital age, it was pretty exciting. We stretched our budget to the limits, and we had some luck with the administration in helping us buy 512K Apple computers that we thought were just top of the line at that time, and two years later, a 12K computer would hardly do anything. ... I think that was an exciting time.”

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Dr. Hudson was among my favorite professors at Tech. He always welcomed us with his warm smile and friendliness. I especially enjoyed his grad-level class as he challenged us to think beyond our narrow mindedness in the media world. Kelly Overley is correct to say that alumni appreciate Jerry. I'll never forget him paying a personal visit to me and my employer during a summer internship in Dallas. The visit meant a lot to me personally and it impressed those with the company supervising the internship. Best wishes to Dr. Hudson as he approaches the days ahead. Texas Tech and this College in particular are stronger because of him. I hope to be able to join him some day for a round of golf to reminisce.